Fire-ladder



2 Sheets-Sheet 2. F. A. BIEHN. FIRE LADDER.

(.No Model.)

Patented Aug. l5, 1893.

ld/7204MB @9 w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK A. BIEHN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,362, dated August 15, 1893.

Application filed January 16. 1893. Serial No. 458,501. (No model.)

T0 cbZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK A. BIEHN, a citi- .zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, 1n the county of Cook and State of illinois, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Fire-Ladders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in tire-ladders of the class in use by fire-departments, and mounted upon trucks with means for raising them to give access to the upper stories of buildings.

My objects are, iirst, to provide improved raising and lowering mechanism for the ladder upon the truck, whereby the raising of the ladder toward the vertical plane is rendered particularly easy and quick; and, second, to provide a ladder with two or more longitudinally movable lengths or sections, all operated to simultaneously lengthen out or extend by the rise of the lowest movable section.

In the drawings-Figure l is a broken, central, vertical and longitudinal section of the body-portion of a fire-ladder truck or carriage and extensible ladder mounted thereon; Figs. 2 and 3 enlarged sections taken on lines 2 and 3, respectively, of Fig. l, and viewed in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 4, an enlarged broken view in elevation of a portion ofk one side of the lower ladder section at line 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 5, an enlarged broken plan view of the upper sliding plate or turn-table, showing the operating shaft of the main raising and lowering mechanism for the ladder, as well as a portion of supplemental raising mechanism therefor; and Fig. 6, an enlarged broken section taken on line G of Fig. l and viewed in the direction of the arrow.

A is the body portion of the truck which may be mounted in the usual way upon ruuning gear, not shown. At, preferably, the forward end portion of the truck is a turntable B, comprising a lower annular plate B firmly secured to the truck, and an upper annular sliding plate Bzheld against separation from the plate B2 but capable of being readily turned thereon.

C is an extensible ladder which is shown to be formed in three sections or lengths C', C2, C3. The section C has forward or upper side rails t, and rear or under side-rails t which.

may be formed integral with the rails t, webs 152 extending between the said rails, at intervals, for purposes of strength. The rails z5 are provided with the rounds t3, and the rails t with inwardly extending bearing pulleys t4. The section C2 extends normally in the section C between the pulleys t4, upon which it rests at opposite sides, and the rounds t3. The section Czhas sides formed with integral rails s s jointed by webs s2. The rails s' rest upon the pulleys t4 and the rails s are provided with rounds 83. At intervals along the rails s are inwardly extending bearing pulleys S4. The top section C3 extends normally in the section C2 between the pulleys s4 and rounds s3, and rests at its side rails r on the pulleys .s2 The section C3 is provided with rounds i". A drum .q is mounted in the lower end portion of the section C', on trunnions q q2 having their bearings in the side rails t t. The trunnion q extends beyond the respective side rail t, and is squared at its end to receive asuitable crank, not shown. At the side of the rail the trunnion q carries a ratchet wheel q2, and on the said rail is a spring pawl q engaging the ratchet. At the upper ends of the rails t are inwardly extending bearings p preferably in the form of sheaves. Suitable cables p' are fastened at one end upon the drum q, and extend over the bearings p to the lower end portions of the side rails S, of the section Cwhere they are securely fastened, as shown at p2. At the upper ends of the rails s of the section C2 are inwardly extending bearings or sheaves n over which extend cables it fastened at opposite ends respectively to eye pieces n2, at the upper ends of the rails t of the section C', and eye pieces n3 at the lower ends of the rails r of the section C3. applied to the trunnion q' and the drum is turned to wind up the cables p', the section C2 is slid longitudinally outward in the section C, and by its movement causes the section C3 to be slid at an increased speed longitudinally outward in the section C2. The sections of the ladder are extended, in practice, after the ladder has been raised toward the vertical plane, as hereinafter described. When extended the sections are held by engagement of the pawl qs with the ratchet q2.

In all fire-ladders of which I am aware but Vilhen the crank is IOG two lengths corresponding with the sections full length may be accomplished as speedily,

as where only two sections are employed.

Secured upon the plate B2 at opposite sides thereof are coincident standards D carrying a transverse shaft D. kThe section C of the ladder is pivotally mounted near its lower, end on the shaft D between' thestaudards On thek plate B2 are bearings m m for a shaft E which extends parallel with the shaft D', and projects beyond thesaid bearings, being squared at yits endsas shown,'to receive a suitable operating crank, not shown.

tween the bearings m is a stirrup piece E affording a bearing for the end portion'otfa` screwfE2 which extends in a `plane per-penis dicular to theishatt'E, Ingthe ,stirruppiece on the shaft E is a ruiter-gear m engaging a ruiter-gear m2 on the adjacentend of the screw. Parallel with the shaftELat the oppof,

site side of theplate B2 is ashai'tF. Fisfa bell-crank lever, doublein the sense that for purposes of strength it isf'formed with'two co.i

incident side-frames, consistingieach of a longy arm Z and short arm Z, and affording practically a single bell-cr`ank lever Fv as stated.. To strengthen the lever, bars Z? extend bei-g tween the respective arms Zandt near the free ends 0f the'flatter, -Thelever F is pivotally mounted at the angles between the arms Z Z upon the shaft F. The upper ends of the arms Z altord pivotal bearings for the trunnionsk of an internally threaded sleeve or screwsocket 7c mounted betweenthe said rated lug k2; The screw E2 extends through Land engages the internally threadedl sleeve k. J ournaled in the free ends of the arms Z of the bell-crank lever F is a shaft Z3 carrying rollers i; and the rails tof` the laddersection C are provided with elongated openings i aording guides in whichthe said rollf ers i extend and travel. yThe ladder C is supported at its lower end portion upon the shaft D', as described, and upon the rollers z ot' the bell-crank lever. C, on its pivotD, toward the vertical plane, the crank `is applied to either` of the squared ends of the shaft E, and the latter is turned thereby to turn the screw E2. The screw is held against longitudinal movement by the stirrup E', and as it is turned it causes the sleeve k to move downward thereon to swing the bell-crank lever F on its pivot at the v shaft F. The pivotal nature of the stirrupE and sleeve la permits the screw to change di rection while ,the bell-crank lever is being swung.` The swinging of the bell crank lever causes the rollers 'L' to travel in the guides t" one-half the length oi' the armsl.

Pivot-y ally mountediat its endsnpon the shaft Ebetends across the sheave f. arms and provided with a transversely perfoi To raise the ladder and by bearing against the under side of the rollers t' to engagey the ladder, initially,quite The a distance, comparatively speaking, from its i,

pivot, and the armsl, may in practice be about This construction aitords aleverage which renders the ladder comparatively easy to raise, and rendersthe rise thereof as quick as may be 'defsireda;

rails of the truck A are coincident cam `guide slots `g 9?, in therelative positions` shown; and

JPIJOSB endsof the bars` hare y.rollers h4. lwhich extend intothe guide slotsig. The L.frameGr is supported-.in the .truck altogetherk u board h3 for the firemen to stand upon whiley "riding uponthe truck.` On` theopposite side by the engagement ofy the wheels 71.4 with they@` Ik cam guides p g. Extending betweeny the Atorrward ends or the bars his across bar or shaft h5 provided midway et' itslength witha per' forated ear h6. f The frame G is `longitudij nally"` movable inlthe trucka distance correspending with the `lengthjof the cam guides IOO-- g; in'its forward ymovementit risesy on the f cams, audit falls in the backwardmovement f thereon. of theftruclrv` is ashaft f, carrying at the geometrical Vcenter. ofthe lturn-table B,.a sheave f. Y' ,Fastenedat opposite ends respect ivelyto the lug logon thesleeve lo, and` to the Extending between" the side rails ear h6 on the shaft h5, is a `cable f2, which eX-,`

The cable f2 causes the sleeve 7c, as it is moved? upward on the worm-shaft to lower the ladder C, to draw*` the frame Grforward and upward. While the ladder C is being raised the frame G will pfall inI the cam guides lg, and by itskweight assist in raising the ladder, thusoperating as a counterbalance therefor.v In practice, ory

dinarily, the frame G when `filled with ladr @ders will weigh over a ton, and `will therefore aid materially in raising the ladderC. To`

still further assist in raising the .ladder C, I

provide supplemental raising mechanism therefor comprising compressed air actuated piston mechanism. y()n the frame Gisa comizo pressed-airreservoirecommunicatingthrough a pipe e with a piston cylinder e2. The reservoir e is mounted on trunnions c3 in bearings -on the forward upright harsh of the i frame G, and in the cylinder c? is a piston e4,

1 yon the end of a stem es which ispivotally connected with a1 shafts6 secured at its ends in coincident bearings clon theside rails of the truck A. Interposed in the pipe ejis a cock `e8 which may be turned" to direct compressed air from the reservoir e to thecylinder e2, K

against the piston e, or it may be turned to shut off communication between the said reservoir and cylinder and Vent the cylinder. The reservoir may be filled with compressed air at the engine house. When it is desired to raise the ladder C, the cock cs is turned to direct compressed air into the cylinder, and the pressn re of the air against the pistou tends to force the frame Gr backward and downward, thus augmenting the strain upon the cable f2 and lending further material aid in raising the ladder C. When the ladder C is to be lowered the cock es should be turned to Vent the cylinder c2.

Myimprovements described render the operation of raising and extending the ladder C particularly easy and quick to accomplish, and as it is possible to make the mechanism very strong and durable, without causing it to be unduly cumbersome, there can be no danger of accident in its use.

While I prefer to construct my improve ments as shown and described, the construction may be modified in the matter of details without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined by the claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a iire-ladder and truck upon which the ladder is pivotally mounted at its lower end-portion, of means upon the truck for raising the ladder on its pivot, and counterbalance mechanism for the ladder on the truck, comprising a movable frame for ladders mounted in guides on the truck, and connected with the ladder to lower in its guides as the ladder is raised, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a {ire-ladder and truck upon which the ladder is pivotally mounted at its lower end-portion, of main raising mechanism on the truck for the ladder, and supplemental raising means for the ladder on the truck comprising a compressed air reservoir, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, and means for directing compressed air from the reservoir against the piston to move the latter, the cylinder and piston being connected respectively with the said truck and ladder, whereby movement of the piston under the expansive force of the compressed air will tend to assist the operation of the said main ladder raising mechanism, substantially as described.

FRANK A. BIEHN.

In presence of J. N. I-IANsoN, W. N. WILLIAMS. 

